Japan industrial output falls 1.7% in August, retail sales growth slows
Retail sales rose 2.7% from a year earlier, below forecasts and down from July's pace
Published
Japan's industrial output fell 1.7% month-on-month in August, missing expectations for a 1.7% rise. It was the second straight monthly decline, following a 0.2% drop in July, according to InstaForex.
Retail sales rose 2.7% from a year earlier in August. That was below the 3.3% expected and down from July's 4.0% pace.
The figures add to signs of weak domestic demand in Japan, following July household spending data and a second-quarter GDP breakdown that showed flat consumption.
US equity investors showed little reaction. The data is specific to Japan's domestic economy and has no direct channel into US stocks. The bigger swing factors for US markets tied to Japan remain the yen and Japanese government bond yields, which have moved more on expectations for Bank of Japan policy than on monthly activity figures. Weaker output could ease pressure on the central bank to tighten policy, a shift that would tend to support risk appetite globally, but the data itself is too narrow to move US sentiment on its own.